Review: Geek Girl by Holly Smale

Title: Geek Girl
Author: Holly Smale
Genre: Contemporary
Publisher: Harper Collins
Published: February 28th 2013
Page Number: 378

Summary:

Harriet Manners knows a lot of things.

She knows that a cat has 32 muscles in each ear, a "jiffy" lasts 1/100th of a second, and the average person laughs 15 times per day. What she isn't quite so sure about is why nobody at school seems to like her very much. So when she's spotted by a top model agent, Harriet grabs the chance to reinvent herself. Even if it means stealing her Best Friend's dream, incurring the wrath of her arch enemy Alexa, and repeatedly humiliating herself in front of the impossibly handsome supermodel Nick. Even if it means lying to the people she loves.

As Harriet veers from one couture disaster to the next with the help of her overly enthusiastic father and her uber-geeky stalker, Toby, she begins to realise that the world of fashion doesn't seem to like her any more than the real world did.

And as her old life starts to fall apart, the question is: will Harriet be able to transform herself before she ruins everything?

Review:

 

I'm going to keep this review short and sweet, but just know that I did enjoy this book. A lot.

 

I still don't know if I should be happy or sad that I liked this book. This books is aimed at girls around the ages of 10 and up, but here I am, 18 years old - turning 19 this month. Oh and I'm a boy. Maybe the book didn't connect all that well because of my gender, but with a female mind and soul I tend to think that I understood it pretty well.

 

Geek Girl was a bedtime read for me, so I only read it when I was in bed because it was an easy, quick read with quite funny characters, plus it was about fashion and I love fashion. (I had dreams of being a fashion designer when I was 10. Now I'd like to work for Elle or Vogue as a journalist.) The characters are all great in their own way, but they're also very annoying at the same time.

 

Harriet was interesting and I loved her, but her family? Hell to the no! The step-mother was an even bigger geek with a hobby of watching incredibly boring TV Shows, and her father was a near 40 year old acting like a 12 year old. If anything Harriet's father was more interested in the model thing than Harriet.

 

I will say that I was kind of annoyed at the whole stereotype over-the-top gay guy who used these ridiculous words and acted like Louis Spence mixed with Alan Carr and Gok Wan. Just because you're a gay guy who works in the modelling industry that doesn't mean that he had to be over-the-top and incredibly annoying.

 

Overall, I did really like the book, but sometimes I wanted to throw it at my wall because it was a little much, but I'm happy I stuck with it. 3/5 Stars!

Book Review: Divergent by Veronica Roth

        
         Book Name: Divergent
         Author: Veronica Roth
         UK Release Date: Been out since 2011
         UK Publishers: Harper Collins
         Summary:

Sixteen year old Tris is forced to make a terrible choice. In a divided society where everyone must conform, Tris does not fit.

So she ventures out alone, determined to discover where she truly belongs. Shocked by her brutal new life, Tris can trust no one. And yet she is drawn to a boy who seems to both threaten and protect her.

The hardest choice lies ahead.



                                                                  Praise for Veronica Roth:

'Haunting vision of the future.' James Dashner. Author of the Maze Runner Series.

'A heart pounding debut.' Kiersten White. Author of Paranormalcy.

Review:

With this series having such a massive hype surrounding it I was scared to start the book. However, I was in a reading slump on 'Beautiful Creatures' and decided that I wanted to pick it up. I started it at around mid-night and read on until 4am.

The book was addictive. I didn't want to stop reading the book. The characters were brilliantly developed with everyone being completely different to any other, which is hard to do, especially since most books I've read have way too many characters who act the same. For me the world building kind of let this down, but it was still enjoyable.

Every chapter had something new inside it and I was open to learning more about 'Dauntless' which seemed to be a very horrible place for me. But for some reason there was one character that I had a major crush on. And I really don't want to say who, but I will tell you. I had a major crush on...... Eric. Yes, Eric. I have no idea why, but he stood out the most for me and I just liked his personality. I also loved the testosterone in this book. Peter. Four - Tobius. Drew. Al. Eric. Peter. And so many more male characters and for me I think it got on my nerves. That may be because I go to an all boys school and I hate that, but I hated it. However, Christina is amazing! She needs her own story!

All in all. I really did enjoy this book. It was dramatic, action-packed, fast paced, romantic, but not overly done. And the writing was good, not amazing. But good. And that is why I gave this book a 4/5 Stars!